Ruben Barrales, chief executive for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, announced Thursday that he will leave the position when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Barrales, 50, informed about 60 of the chamber's members during the nonprofit organization’s board meeting at the Holiday Inn on the Harbor.

A former San Mateo County supervisor and aide to President George W. Bush, Barrales will vacate his current post after six years. He said in an interview Thursday that he doesn't plan to go back into public service and hopes that his next position will be oriented toward helping the local economy.

"I want to take on a challenge that involves promoting San Diego's economy, creating jobs in San Diego at the national level," Barrales said. "I want to be involved in areas including renewable energies. I want to be involved in helping to make the border more efficient in San Diego and I think there are plenty of opportunities to do that, so I’m excited."

The chamber, founded in 1870, has 3,000 member businesses that together employ about 400,000 people, according to its website. Barrales took over as the organization's CEO in January 2007. His goal was to expand San Diego's reach into Mexico, as well as improving relationships with movers and shakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

He said the chamber recently concluded its sixth advocacy trip to the nation's capitol.

"My whole vision is to make San Diego a crossroads in the global economy rather than a cul-de-sac at the end of California," Barrales said. "I think we’re moving in that direction."

Barrales earned $302,496 in total compensation in 2010, according to the chamber's tax filings. He said he took over the organization during a time of financial uncertainty, and that the group now has $2.3 million in cash reserves.

"I am proud to leave the chamber in better financial condition than when I assumed the position," Barrales told the board Thursday morning.

Barrales received a standing ovation from those in attendance, said chamber member Phil Blair, CEO of the staffing agency Manpower San Diego.

"He was the right person at the right time," said Blair, a member for more than a decade. "He did a wonderful job developing exposure and relationships with Washington, D.C., Sacramento and Mexico -- in both Tijuana and Mexico City -- and the chamber is much better for him having been here."

Barrales said his biggest regret was in 2010 when the board overrode his recommendation to oppose the failed one-half-cent sales-tax increase - Proposition D in November 2010. The chamber endorsed the measure.

"I didn’t agree with it and I think it affected the chamber’s brand, the chamber's appeal to some small businesses," Barrales said. "My preference would have been for the chamber to have taken either an opposed position or a neutral position on it at least.”

Barrales succeeded Richard Vortmann, who led the organization from August 2006 to January 2007 after CEO Jessie Knight left to become executive president of external affairs for Sempra Energy. Knight had spent seven years trying to stabilize the chamber after financial problems and political turmoil in the late 1990s.

Barrales said he will help the organization with the search for his replacement.

"I’ve talked with folks on my board, and I think it’s fair to say that six years is a long time in this kind of position," Barrales said. "I feel very good about the accomplishments that we’ve made."